


Field of Stars

by Cosmic_Biscuit



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Rebellion, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-11
Updated: 2014-04-11
Packaged: 2018-01-19 00:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1448632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cosmic_Biscuit/pseuds/Cosmic_Biscuit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Homura only intended to make sure none of the others were making trouble. That was all. Nothing else. (Major Rebellion Spoilers)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Field of Stars

Homura was sitting at a table on the patio of a sidewalk cafe, twisting the straw of an untouched drink, when the stray thought came to her that she hadn’t looked in on the other former Puellae Magi in quite some time, so occupied had she been with putting little distractions in Madoka’s daily life to keep things lively and happy for her. She would have to rectify that… perhaps in person. After all…

Miki was obviously the first possibility on the list. The loudmouth _had_ threatened to remember her, and Miki was stubborn enough that it might not be an idle threat after all. But.. Homura twisted the straw a little tighter, then tied it into a neat knot. No, Miki could go last. Even if she _did_ still have any of her memories, she had no power that would give her the ability to make trouble. Moreover, _if_ she did recall anything, Homura was in no mood to listen to her preaching.

After some more consideration, she settled on Tomoe instead. She didn’t _like_ being around the girl, and Sakura probably would have been an easier visit, but Homura figured that this was all the more reason to get this one out of the way first.

Homura knew where to find her, of course, and when the classes broke for lunch the next day, she headed up to the room where the sewing club had been meeting last ‘year’.

She was unsurprised to see Tomoe sitting in a corner by one of the windows, soaking up the rays of sunshine that filtered through the glass while a neat little lunch and thermos of tea sat on a desk beside her. But the knitting needles and several balls of yarn settled around her stocking feet and cast aside shoes were a new sight. Homura stared at them for a moment, watching with narrowed eyes as the needles moved and flashed in the sunlight, then bit her lip and let herself fully into the room, closing the door with enough force that Tomoe looked up from her work.

"O-oh! I’m so sorry!" Homura said in a perfect imitation of her old skittish self as she jumped and clutched at the door as if to flee. "I- I was j- just trying to find a quiet place! I didn’t know anyone was in here, I swear! I’ll-"

Tomoe smiled, waving off the apology. “It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s hardly my own personal room, so you’re more than welcome to stay,” she said, using one foot to guide another chair from its place behind an askew desk. “Have a seat.”

Edging around another desk, Homura approached the other girl and sat down in the chair, folding her hands in her lap. It gave her the opportunity to get a better look at what Tomoe was making, which turned out to be a circular field of knitted pinks and purples and greys and oranges with little dots of gold woven in. It much resembled a starry twilight sky, and while Tomoe wasn’t looking, Homura scowled at it. Wasn’t the curly haired girl bad at _anything_?

Homura bit her lip harder than before, briefly entertaining the thought of making the project fall to pieces out of the spite that welled up in her chest. It _wasn’t_ petty, she told herself. She had _perfectly_ good reasons to-

"-a takoyaki?"

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Homura realized Tomoe had been talking to her. “I’m sorry?”

"I said you look rather upset and pale. Would you like some of my lunch? Perhaps a takoyaki?"

"Er, no. Thank you. I ate really fast," Homura lied quickly, briefly forgetting to keep her persona up. Fortunately, Tomoe didn’t seem to notice.

"Maybe some tea, then? It’s a very nice oolong and chrysanthemum blend."

"Ah, n- no." There, the mask was back in place. "I’m all right, really, u- um, Miss, um-"

"Oh, now it’s my turn to apologize for forgetting introductions," Tomoe said with a little laugh, then laid the needles down and put a hand to her chest to bow slightly at the waist. "Mami Tomoe, third year."

"Homura Akemi, first year." After a quick, polite nod, Homura leaned forward in her chair, tilting her head to peer at the twilight project. "Um, i- if it’s not too forward of me to ask, what are you making?"

Tomoe shuffled the finished portion a bit, evening it out, then held up her knitting. “I’m only about halfway finished,” she said of the twilight field. “It will be a full-sized blanket when I’m done. My most ambitious project yet.”

Fully expanded, Homura was even more jealous. There were _constellations_ in the pattern, damn her-

Wait…

Homura knew the night sky like the back of her hand. She had to keep it in smooth working order, of course, to make sure nothing might make Madoka suspicious. None of the constellations in Tomoe’s project looked like anything in the current sky, or during any other season.

But she _had_ seen them before.

"Tomoe-san…" Homura asked cautiously as she reached out to touch the completed portion, not caring that she was dropping the persona again. "Where did you get the inspiration for this?"

"You know, it’s the funniest thing," Tomoe said, draping the blanket in progress over her knees again. "I don’t really know. I think I may have dreamed it a few times, or something. But it just felt… right, you know?"

Homura tried to school her expression back to innocent curiosity, but couldn’t keep a little bite from leaking into her voice. “No. I’m afraid I don’t.”

"I’m…sorry?" Tomoe asked, looking confused and a little startled by the hostility, and Homura bit the inside of her cheek, forcing herself back under control.

"I apologize, Tomoe-san. I… don’t sleep very well. Dreams and I are more or less enemies."

It wasn’t entirely a lie. After all, the last dream she’d ever had had been the barrier, hadn’t it? She couldn’t remember having ever slept after crushing her soul gem, and she remembered everything now, whether she wanted to or not. And the barrier had certainly been her enemy, even if…

She stiffened at a touch, then realized it was Tomoe’s hand on hers, and looked at the pair of them in a mixture of confusion and suspicion before Tomoe gently placed a separate set of knitting needles under her fingers. “What’s this?”

"Would you like to try?"

"Try- knitting?"

"Well, yes. It can be very relaxing if you let it. Maybe having something to take your mind off your troubles will let you sleep a little better, Akemi-san."

Troubles, huh? Homura was sure she’d taken care of everything, having set the other girl on a course to meet the little one, but perhaps without Momoe having her memories, there were still some hiccups. Maybe she’d have to do a little more tweaking. Just to make sure they weren’t hiccups that could be a problem. “Is that why you do it, Tomoe-san?”

"Ah, my reasons aren’t near as dire as nightmares," Tomoe said with a sheepish little giggle. "Don’t worry about me. I’m just tired a lot. There’s a girl from the elementary school I tutor in the afternoons, and while she’s very darling and I love her dearly, her enthusiasm is quite a lot to keep up with. I took up the hobby as a sort of energy recovery method."

Then again, maybe her interference wouldn’t be needed. But she was still concerned about these ‘dreams’. Unlike Miki, Tomoe should have had no recollection at all of previous events, and yet from what of the constellations had been revealed so far, Homura was _sure_ that-

The needles under her hand started to pull away, and Homura reflexively closed her fingers in a fierce grip. “No! I- I mean yes,” she said, catching herself and loosening her hold when Tomoe’s eyes widened at the outburst. “I would- I would like to learn.” After all, it was a good pretext for asking more questions, and possibly finding out just what _else_ might have appeared in the other girl’s mind as a warning of what she should be looking for in the rest of the group.

"Oh, excellent! Here, I have an extra ball of purple we can start you off with." Tomoe rifled around in a small basket beside the desk before producing the yarn and handing it over. Homura reached out with her free hand, and felt a strange little shiver when the yarn passed from Tomoe to her.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"Nothing. Nevermind," Homura muttered, settling the yarn in her lap and running her fingers over it. Now that she was actually paying attention to the texture, it felt… really _nice_ , actually. Smooth, and softer than any sweater she’d ever worn before. “What is this made out of?”

"Alpaca wool and silk. It’s unfortunately expensive, but the feel is worth the cost, I think."

"I… like it."

"I’m glad! Maybe you can turn this ball into a nice scarf for yourself, hm? Or possibly a-" Tomoe was cut off by the sound of the chime that ended the lunch period, and looked up at the speaker in disappointment. "Or perhaps we’ll have to continue this tomorrow."

"I think I’ll be eating lunch with someone tomorrow, Tomoe-san," Homura said as she got up. "Maybe some other time?"

"Ah, yes, that would be fine. I’m usually here, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding me when you’re ready," Tomoe said brightly, beginning to fold up her project. Homura started to hand back the needles and yarn, but the other girl pushed the yarn ball back. "You go ahead and keep them for now. After all, they’ll be yours eventually, right?"

"Er- right," Homura mumbled, an unexpected feeling of awkwardness creeping up on her at still holding the things, and as soon as Tomoe leaned down to continue gathering up her things, she quickly made her escape.

As soon as she was out in the hallway and had closed the door behind her, Liar poked her head around a nearby corner. Homura scowled at the familiar, then tossed the yarn and needles at her. Despite the carelessness of the throw, the doll caught them all easily, and giggled as she clutched them to her chest, turning to leave.

Homura held up a hand. “Wait.” Liar turned her head back, but not her body, and Homura’s scowl darkened further. “I hate it when you do that,” she snapped, but the doll only giggled again and didn’t change her posture at all. “Whatever. Don’t throw those away. I’m still using them for something.”

That at least got a nod, and then Liar ran off.

—-

It ended up being three days before she was back at the sewing club room and, true to her word, Tomoe was there, lunch already eaten and tea half finished as she busily worked on the blanket. As before, Homura closed the door a little harder than necessary, just to get her attention, and Tomoe looked up with a smile.

"Hello, there. Ready to get started?"

"Ready!" Homura said with false cheer, holding up the yarn and needles. The chair she’d sat in last time was still pulled out from the desk, but a little padded cushion had been placed on it. Hm… Simple kindness, or some of the old desperation to keep people close? Well, she’d see as this went on, wouldn’t she? She settled herself comfortably, and Tomoe set aside her project.

"All right. I have some instruction books, but just from practice, I’ve found that actually watching it being done is a lot more effective. Since they don’t allow us to have video phones in the school, I’m just going to help you go through the steps until it feels a little easier for you, okay?"

"Okay…" Homura mumbled a little dubiously as Tomoe took hold of her hands. It felt… _unnatural_ for anyone other than Madoka to be holding her hands. She didn’t like it.

She didn’t think she was projecting the feeling much, but Tomoe seemed to pick up on it anyway and let go. “Or we could do it this way,” she said and took hold of the needles in a spot close to Homura’s fingers instead. “Is that more comfortable?”

Huh. That was… Homura felt that weird little shiver again. It wasn’t the same sort of feeling she got around Madoka, not even remotely close, but it was still… It sort of reminded her of… “Yes, that’s better. But you better not laugh at me if I mess this up. “

Tomoe smiled brighter. “Cross my heart I won’t. Okay, here’s your first basic lesson, then.”

As the other girl guided her through some practice stitches, Homura couldn’t possibly understand how Tomoe found this relaxing. The needles were hard to manage in coordination with the yarn and she kept dropping loops and dammit, this was embarrassing. She controlled the _world_ , and she couldn’t manage to make yarn do what she wanted. At the edge of her hearing, there was giggling, and she glanced up to see several of her familiars peering through the window of the door. She jerked her head in a clear dismissal, but that only made them laugh louder.

Mami didn’t laugh.

Not even once.

"Believe it or not, you’re actually doing rather well for your very first try," the curly haired girl said once the bell had rung and she’d begun packing away her lunch and knitting kit.

"I don’t see how," Homura said, and didn’t care that she was sulking.

"Well, in comparison, I actually snapped the yarn on my first effort. Pulled it too tight on the needles, and when I tried to force a stitch anyway, _rip_!” Mami said, making a twisting motion with her fingers. “I was _mortified_. It was lucky no one was around to see.”

That did make her feel better. And she still had things to investigate. So. “I’ll try again.”

This time, when she left the room, she didn’t try to give Mami’s supplies back first, and when the dolls clambered for them, she curtly shooed them off.

It was only after she’d gotten back to the classroom that she wondered why ‘Tomoe’ had become ‘Mami’.

—-

She visited Sakura before returning to see Mami again a week later. The meeting had been short, but not a trial of her patience, just as she’d predicted. The redhead was as she had been within the witch’s barrier, brash and loud and annoying, but also willing to share a sandwich and chat about nothing in particular. There had been nothing of concern with her, despite her being so close to Miki, and Homura had crossed her off the list for the time being.

When she went back to the sewing club room for the third time, she could tell by the state of the constellations on the blanket that it was very close to being finished. At the speed Mami worked and as often as she seemed to work on it, Homura’s time frame for asking questions was likely going to be closed by the end of the month at best. Probably a lot sooner. She was going to have to step up her ‘practice’.

This time she knocked on the door to announce herself, and Mami smiled in greeting when she raised her head. Taking that as invitation, Homura let herself in and went straight to ‘her’ chair. “Sorry I haven’t been around.”

"It’s all right. This is just for fun, remember?"

"Still… Is it all right if I come a few days in a row? Even for a couple of weeks?"

"As long as you’re fine with it, of course you can. You have all the basics for practice, and I don’t mind helping if you get stuck. Otherwise, this is a nice room to just be in."

"And talk?" Homura pushed.

"Ah- well, I don’t really know about that. I can hardly talk to myself, you know. Aha, kidding, kidding," Mami said with a smile when Homura frowned at her. "Of course we can talk. Was there something in specific you wanted to talk about?"

Relieved, and somewhat embarrassed at her little outburst of sorts, Homura sank into her chair and fiddled with her practice stitches. “Just… things. Like, how you said your blanket was inspired by dreams.”

"Oh, yes. What about them?"

"Well, do you… remember anything else from them? The ones with the stars specifically?" Homura asked, glancing at the other girl out of the corner of her eye.

Mami made a soft humming noise and pursed her lips in thought as she resumed adding stitches to the blanket. “That’s a good question. Actually, now that I try to recall them, they were very indistinct. I do remember little shreds of things, though. Guns and ribbons. Particular colors. A very strange-looking little doll. Odd places that would shatter like glass. And… I remember… I remember…”

The blanket hit the floor in a puddle of yawn as the other girl jerked to her feet in an almost puppet-like motion, clutching at her head with an expression of horror. “The _teeth_. I remember- They’re so _sharp_ , so huge, and they’re _cutting through_ \- I’m _bleeding_! I can’t breathe! _I’m going to-!_ ”

 _Shit._ Homura jumped out of her seat and grabbed Mami’s wrists, cutting off the memory before it could take root. “You’re not dying.” she said, keeping her voice calm and even as she smoothed it back into an indistinct, harmless blur, and then out of existence entirely. “You’re perfectly safe. That never happened. You’re just a normal schoolgirl, remember?”

Mami stared at her for several seconds, eyes wide and blank, then relaxed enough allowed Homura to slowly lower their hands. “Right… That's right. I remember,” she murmured, before shaking her head and blinking. “Ah! Akemi-san! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to drift off on you. Were we talking about something?”

"It’s okay," Homura said, carefully easing her back into her chair before letting her go. "It wasn’t really anything important." The chime sounded over their heads.

As Homura sat in ‘her’ class later, pretending to pay attention to Kazuko-sensei, her thoughts were split between her usual plans for Madoka and this new revelation with Mami. Possible memories from _her_ witch’s barrier was one thing, but Mami most _certainly_ shouldn’t have had any flashbacks to her demise at the Dessert Witch's fangs, since that had been even before Madoka’s time as goddess. Clearly she was going to have to be more careful about what she allowed to enter the dreams of the other girls if they could activate recollection of events from even timelines that should have been cancelled out by Madoka's wish.

Or… Perhaps…

Homura surreptitiously glanced in Miki’s direction. Miki and the little one had kept their memories of previous timelines via their close association with Madoka. Was it possible that her short visits with Mami, sparse as they had been, were having a similar effect?

No, that was absurd. Miki and Momoe had been pulled out of the order of time by their deaths. Their disconnect surely had more to do with their memories than anything. Moreover, if mere association had been all that was necessary, Madoka would have broken out of her amnesia entirely already. It had to be some kind of leakage via the dreams, and Homura could fix that easily enough. There was nothing to worry about. She had her answers now, and there was no reason to go back to the sewing club room.

Even so, the next day, she found herself knocking at the door, meager practice stitches in hand. She couldn’t come up with a proper explanation for _why_ , she just…

Mami waved her in, and she took her seat without a word, immediately starting in on her work. Without even really needing to look up, she saw Mami tilt her head slightly, then shrug and resume her own project.

After a few minutes of adding rows, Homura began to feel the tension in her shoulders ease once she saw them becoming more and more straight and even. Mami was right, it seemed. Once one was comfortable enough to find a rhythm, this really was kind of… soothing. At least… it was something not to fret over for a change. And the quiet in the room wasn’t the tense sort of commanding quiet Homura carried with her everywhere. For whatever reason, her familiars had the sense to stay out of the room, and Mami was perfectly at ease. Even when the other girl began humming softly as she worked, it wasn’t unpleasant.

Homura was almost sorry when the chime sounded.

And the next day, she was back again.

And again.

"Ready to tie it off?"

"Huh?" Homura looked up from her work to find Mami leaning over her, inspecting the rows she’d been knitting all week. "Tie it off?"

"Your scarf, silly. You don’t want it to be so long it wraps all the way up over your head, do you?"

Scarf? Homura held up the mass of purple to find that yes, it was a very long and, except for the first few messy rows, not too shabby scarf. She’d just been focusing on keeping the rows even and not thinking about anything for so long that she hadn’t really given any consideration to how many rows she’d actually made. “Oh. Yes, I suppose this would be a good place.”

Mami produced a small pair of scissors from her bag and guided her through the ending stitches before snipping the yarn to knot the end in the rows. “Very good. This should be snug and fashionable for you this winter.”

"Thank you," Homura said as she started to get up from her seat.

"Oh, Akemi-san, before you go-" Mami returned to her chair and picked up her project, shaking it out a little, and Homura’s breath caught in her throat in a hitched sound.

The blanket was finished. And there, complete, just as she’d been expecting and dreading all at once were the constellations from the false Mitakihara sky. The one that had been in her witch’s barrier. “You… finished your blanket.”

“ _Your_ blanket.”

Homura blinked. “P- pardon?” she asked, and that time, the stammer wasn’t faked.

Mami carefully folded the blanket and draped it over her arm, gently stroking it as she looked at it with a fond smile. “It’s so strange, but remember that ‘right’ feeling I told you about? Well, I had it again the first time you came in here. And it’s just sort of… _flickered_ around you since then. Like I was making this blanket for _you_ the whole time, even when I didn’t know it.”

Homura swallowed thickly as Mami transferred the blanket to drape over her arm instead, and when she got that shiver again, this time, she recognized it.

The second timeline.

The one where Mami had been her teacher for real.

The one where they had been-

"I- I can’t- You worked so hard on this, you should-"

"I just do it for relaxation, remember?" Mami said. "I can always make another for myself if I like. But I really believe this one should be yours. See? The colors even suit you," she added, holding a bit of it up to show how the dark grey went with Homura’s hair.

Homura made a small choked noise in response before finding her voice again. “ _Thank you_ ,” she managed to gasp out before turning and fleeing the room, blanket and scarf in her arms and knitting stuff abandoned on her chair.

The dolls were all clustered in the hall when she blew past them, pointing and laughing or trying to grab at the blanket. “ _Get lost!_ " she snapped at them, and left them behind without further thought. She didn’t bother going back to her classroom, tweaking things slightly so everyone would believe she’d gone home sick. Instead she just kept walking as fast as she could without running, not stopping until she came to the river, and only then did she drop to her knees, shaking a little and gasping for breath.

She hadn’t meant to let it go this far. She hadn’t meant to let Mami - _Tomoe_ , she tried to remind herself, Tomoe, Tomoe, _Tomoe_ , not Mami- become her friend again. Not when she had other things she should be focusing on. Not when Tomoe would undoubtedly join Madoka’s side and become her enemy if they got their memories back.

"All potential enemies," she muttered to herself. "Always, _always_. The way it _should_ be.”

But as night fell and the air turned chilly, the blanket found its way around her shoulders and the scarf around her neck instead of into the river.

They were just as soft and warm as Mami had promised, she thought as she used the tail end of the scarf to wipe the tears off of her face.


End file.
